Continuing from part 1 to our series of articles on the goings-on behind the scenes for the inaugural National Rugby Championship, kicking off on Thursday August 21.
Today in Part 2 we outline the development of the four New South Wales-based teams.
And as mentioned in the previous instalment, I’ll wrap up the series next week with Part 3, an overall view of the NRC competition development activities with General Manager, National Teams and Rugby Operations for the ARU, Andrew Fagan.
Andrew mentioned to me that live streaming of games not broadcast by Fox Sports remains very much part of their planning, and it’s one topic I certainly look forward to covering.
In the meantime, here’s what the NSW sides can tell us.
NSW Country Eagles
Coach: Darren Coleman was announced as the Country coach some time ago, and brings experience from time with both the Waratahs and Brumbies academies, and head coach stints at Penrith and Northern Suburbs. Coleman is the current Director of Rugby at Eastern Suburbs.
Home grounds: Dubbo, Orange, and Lismore are locked in for this season, with one other centre to be confirmed. Newcastle, Armidale, and Mudgee all expressed interest in hosting games this year, but will instead work on securing games for next season.
Tamworth and Port Macquarie are possibilities for next season, too. With one more game to be confirmed for this season, and with none of those centres hosting games this year, it possibly only leaves somewhere like Coffs Harbour or Wollongong in the hunt.
It’s also been suggested to me from outside the NSW Country organisation that Randwick’s Coogee Oval might be a fallback option this season if a regional solution can’t be found in time.
Home games confirmed: None confirmed enough to announce, though Country indicated they play the Greater Sydney Rams in the first round. What’s interesting is that Country suggested to me it’s an away game, but the Rams have since confirmed that their first home game is not until Round 2. It will be against Uni of Canberra Vikings, a Fox Sports game on Thursday 28 August.
Fox Sports will not televise any Country home games.
Playing squad expectations: Lots of former country players now playing in Sydney said they were “waiting for the call” once Country were confirmed as a NRC team, and so the expectation is a good mix of club and Super Rugby-contracted players. That said, Country already know there’s a number of eligible players they won’t get, ranging from likely Wallabies in Sam Carter and Ben McCalman, to Super Rugby-contracted players like Beau Robinson who’ll likely be required for a Queensland team.
Pat McCutcheon, as much as he wanted to play for Country, has elected to remain with his club and turn out for the Sydney Stars.
Logo and jersey design/colours: The Eagles mascot and logo was chosen to make the distinction between the NSW Country Rugby Union representative team, the Cockatoos. The Eagles’ management worked carefully and collaboratively with the NSWCRU all the way, with the only proviso being that the NRC entity didn’t use the Cockatoos name, and didn’t pinch NSWCRU’s major sponsor.
However, the Eagles will play in the NRC in the familiar NSW Country colours of black and gold, which might be interesting when they play Perth Spirit.
Major sponsor: A major sponsor as well as a partnership with a “major regional University” is expected to be named in the coming weeks.
Website / Twitter / Facebook : http://nswcountryeagles.com | @CountryEagles | ‘NSWCountryEagles’ on Facebook | the Eagles also have their own YouTube channel, with five informative clips already posted, including one from coach Darren Coleman, and this one from James Grant.
The NSW Country Eagles had their management team established early, led by General Manager and former Wallaby, James Grant. Dave Carter, another former Wallaby himself and father of Brumbies and Wallabies lock Sam, is the Eagles’ President.
Grant told me last week the NSW Country Eagles were established for sole purpose of creating and promoting a proper, professional pathway for up and coming country-based players. The Eagles want to give young players in the country the opportunity to shine on the national stage, and hopefully, be picked up one of Australia’s Super Rugby sides.
Though the Eagles’ squad will comprise a large number of players already on Super Rugby contracts, or ex-country players who have moved to Sydney, the Eagles will have genuine NSW Country players in their squad for the inaugural NRC.
The NSW Country Cockatoos play Queensland Country in a curtain-raiser to the Reds-Waratahs game in Brisbane this Saturday, and from that game around 10 or so players will be then invited to come down and train with the Eagles NRC squad. From there, some will be offered NRC contracts, with Grant telling me “if there were four guys contracted, I’d be very happy.”
In future seasons of the NRC, Grant hopes that number might climb to 10 or 12 country-based players.
The Eagles are already well established – if not prolific – in their online and social media channels, where a lot of information, content and some key announcements will be made in the coming weeks. The Eagles will also feature on Fox Sports’ RugbyHQ program on Thursday 17 July.
Greater Sydney Rams
Coach: Brian Melrose, who also coached the Western Sydney Rams in the 2007 Australian Rugby Championship. Current and former Eastwood coaches, John Manetti and Stu Woodhouse, will assist Melrose.
Home ground: Parramatta Stadium
Home games confirmed: home games still being finalised, though the Rams do know their first home game is in Round 2 against the Uni of Canberra Vikings on Thursday 28 August. It will be televised on Fox Sports. My understanding is the Rams will play NSW Country in the first round at a venue to be announced.
Playing squad announced/expectations: All still to be finalised, including the status of Waratahs players with ties to the west. Benn Robinson would seem a logical inclusion, given his Eastwood affiliation, but the Rams could call on anywhere up to a dozen current Waratahs. It all hangs on Wallabies representation and current club affiliations. Israel Folau and Kurtley Beale would be ideal ambassadorial Wallabies, but both are currently tied to non-Rams clubs (Uni and Randwick, respectively).
Logo and jersey design/colours: The Rams logo is based on the Western Sydney Rams logo from the ARC in 2007, albeit with some modernised tweaks. The playing strip will be launched soon, but the colours will remain the same orange, blue, and white as worn in the ARC.
Major sponsor: Also to be announced, with three of four potential sponsors currently in negotiation.
Website / Twitter / Facebook: www.ramsrugby.com.au | @Rams_Rugby (Feb 14!) | ‘GSRamsRugby’ on Facebook.
The Greater Sydney Rams have been in the press a bit of late, and not necessarily for the reasons they’d like, with Eastwood’s formal financial withdrawal from the consortium, and uncertainty about Penrith’s involvement.
I spoke to Rams consortium spokesperson Marshall Brentnall while putting all this together, and one of the five or six private investors, too, and while Eastwood’s decision was seen as a negative, it’s been business as usual while the Rams organisation has been “getting our ducks in a row” over the last few weeks.
The investors describe themselves as “passionate rugby people just doing our bit” and who all believe in creating the pathways for rugby in the west and southwest of Sydney.
On that front, the Rams were very happy for me to reveal their slogan for the NRC season: ONE FAMILY.
‘One Family’ is the Rams’ vision to create the most culturally diverse team and fan base in the competition, catering perfectly and deliberately for one of the biggest multi-cultural catchment areas in Australia. Already their potential roster includes players from Indigenous, Pacific Islands, Cook Islands, and Maori backgrounds, and the Rams want to tap into those rich rugby cultures and tell all the stories of the players and their families.
Brentnall told me that despite the financial concerns from Eastwood, and possibly Penrith too, the investors and the five clubs are all “absolutely committed to building an organisation that can provide a pathway for young players on and off the field, grow the rugby brand in Western Sydney, and attract people that want to be part of the Rams family.”
“For the underwriters that means investing financially, whilst the Board and team management build frameworks and processes that allow our fans to gain a sense of community and the creation of a team + culture that they are proud to be part of.”
West Harbour, Parramatta, Southern Districts, and the investors signed a Memorandum of Understanding late last week, and this allowed the Greater Sydney Rams’ participation in the NRC to be approved by the ARU Board, as Andrew Fagan told us on The Roar last week had happened for all nine clubs.
North Harbour Rays
Coach: Geoff Townsend (current Gordon, ex-Force assistant – assisted by Warringah coach Haig Sare, Manly’s scrum doctor and forwards coach Damien Cummins, and former Rebels flanker and England International, Michael Lipmann, as breakdown and defence coach).
Home ground: Brookvale Oval
Home games confirmed: Somehow, and despite no other clubs publicly discussing their draw, the Rays released their full draw a fortnight ago. They kick off their NRC season in Melbourne with a replay of the ARC Final, and play their first home game in Round 3 against NSW Country, a Fox Sports game on Thursday 4 September (7:30pm kickoff). They will host Perth in Rd5 on Saturday 20 September (5:30pm), Greater Sydney in Round 6 on Sunday 28 September (3pm), and the final home game will be against Brisbane City on Saturday 11 October (3pm).
Curiously, the Rays announcing their games didn’t concern the ARU.
Playing squad announced/expectations: Waratahs Matt Lucas and Rebels-bound Cam Crawford are already known, and featured in the Rays profile on RugbyHQ two weeks ago. A 35-man development squad was announced last Friday, with 13 Manly players, 11 from Warringah, five from Gordon, and four from Norths.
Wallabies and Super Rugby players are still to be confirmed, including the status of contracted players from outside NSW with partner club ties (Pek Cowan, Jordy Reid, for e.g). The Rays four assigned ‘ambassadorial’ Wallabies are likely to include Michael Hooper and Wycliff Palu (Manly), Adam Ashley-Cooper (Norths), and possibly even one of the ex-Warringah Brumbies in Scott Fardy or Pat McCabe.
Logo and jersey design/colours: The Rays will launch an exciting, but traditional ‘harlequin’ style rugby strip in the coming weeks, comprising quarters the blue, white, red, and green of the four member clubs.
Gold features on the sleeves, and all four clubs’ colours are represented on the socks. Already sounds like the most colourful kit in the Australian professional rugby. The Rays logo is very deliberately the same as what was used in the 2007 ARC, save for the name change from ‘Central Coast’ to North Harbour.
Major sponsor: Macquarie University (front of jersey)
Website / Twitter / Facebook: website under construction | @NorthHarbourRay | ‘nhrays’ on Facebook | Instagram coming soon, plus the Rays have their own YouTube channel, including chats with the coaches and footage from their first training session last week.
Going into this exercise, the North Harbour Rays were the one club I felt I already knew the most about, and they’ve certainly been the most active on the information front of all the NRC clubs thus far. Regular news has been coming out of the Rays’ camp every few days now for most of the last month or six weeks – and I know this because I suddenly started receiving press releases!
Gary Flowers, the former ARU CEO who was in charge when the ARC was launched and took place in 2007, was quickly appointed Chairman, and the Rays make no apologies about using existing Rays brand and lessons learned from the ARC.
Their spokesman, Mark Cashman, said to me last week, “we’re the reigning Champions after all!” and it’s great to be able to draw on a known brand, even if it has been dormant.
Manly and Warringah, currently first and third on the Shute Shield ladder, have already supplied the lion’s share of playing and coaching staff. The Rays have been careful to ensure all four clubs are represented, but they are coming into the NRC to win, and will play to their strengths.
The Rays certainly seem to have done the most work on spreading the word of their existence, and that’s great. Even with the amount already known about them though, there is still a lot more to come, so fans north of the Bridge should definitely stay tuned.
Sydney Stars
Coach: Current Sydney Uni coach, Chris Malone. His assistants were confirmed to me by the Stars last Friday as Cam Blades (forwards), and Peter Playford (backs). Jack Farrar and Matt Dunning were inadvertently named last week on RugbyHQ as assistants, they may serve as support staff.)
Home ground: Leichhardt Oval
Home games confirmed: Home games still to be announced, but their Round 1 clash against Brisbane City at Ballymore on Thursday 21 August has already been reported as the first Fox Sports game.
Playing squad expectations: Sydney Uni-aligned Waratahs players essentially, plus those with current Uni and Balmain affiliations. The number of Waratahs in the Stars squad is still being confirmed, and has certainly been trimmed by one, with ‘Tahs Captain Dave Dennis now out for the season. Pat McCutcheon featured on the Stars’ RugbyHQ profile last week, and he resisted an urge to turn out for NSW Country. Dave Hickey (Uni) and Tipiloma Kaveinga (Balmain) also featured.
Logo and jersey design/colours: A bit of a mystery around the playing strip. In April/May, the indicative design shown here was published on the Stars’ Facebook page, but then disappeared about six weeks ago.
The NRC and Asics logos (the new Wallabies kit supplier, also providing kit for all nine NRC teams), along with how it was released suggests to me that this was most certainly an official design, however the Stars tell me that this will not be their playing strip. They would neither confirm nor deny my follow-up suggestion of blue, black, and gold hoops (a decent combination of current Uni and Balmain jerseys), so make of that what you will.
Major sponsor: Talks are said to be well advanced with several companies keen to be involved.
Website / Twitter / Facebook: web in progress | @starsrugby | https://www.facebook.com/sydneystarsrugby
The Stars were another of the NRC of the belief that they really couldn’t say a lot about anything yet, and suggested that they were acting on ARU instruction in staying tight-lipped.
They were even reluctant to confirm their Round 1 game was in Brisbane, despite the fact it had already been reported as such. The fact they didn’t correct what was reported was confirmation enough for this exercise.
The make-up of the playing squad is shrouded in secrecy still, and I couldn’t even get an indication of how many Balmain players were likely to be included in the squad.
Israel Folau looms as one of their ambassadorial Wallabies, despite Folau’s obvious ties to western Sydney and that he hasn’t played much for Sydney Uni.
Is Tom Carter still on the scene?
The Stars already shape as the team Sydney fans especially want to beat, and the Stars seem pretty comfortable with that. Every competition needs a ‘villain’, it seems, and Uni and Balmain’s respective professionalism and brashness make them an obvious choice.
Endnote: though the full NRC draw is still be to announced, and though some sides wouldn’t even say who they were playing in the first round, by piecing together the opening round games other sides were happy to confirm, we do have a complete Round 1 fixture.
We know that Brisbane City will host Sydney Stars in the opening game at Ballymore, on Thursday 21 August, and that it will be on Fox Sports. We also know Melbourne Rising will host North Harbour Rays on Friday 22 August. Then on Saturday 23/Sunday 24 August, University of Canberra will host Perth, and NSW Country will host Greater Sydney Rams at a venue to be announced. Queensland Country will have the first round bye.
Schuey
Guest
Brookvale Oval is the perfect choice. Centrally located for the component clubs. Facilities there are decent. Gotta admit I am pretty excited. Will buya myself a Rays Jersey too. Happy for another team to support along with the Sea Eagles. Go Rays. Go Manly.
Rugby fan
Guest
So in relation to NSW country and where they play what are you proposing then ???? While the country towns may seem small in relation to big cities, the towns that are around a Town hosting NSW country- would hopefully have people making the trip to see the match, along with bus companies offering to drive people to the game and back for reasonable prices allowing people to have a couple beers/ wines or other drinks and not have to worry about driving home when police on the road would probably be prime [i.e. every where- cos they know the match is on]. I also think while some people may call places like Maitland country - its actually not [most of the people in the city don't have a connection to the bush]- having said that- the country NSW team needs all the country players it can get, so if there was someone from Maitland who gets/ got a contract with NSW country then I say good on them- Better than going to a team like the Sydney stars or something- I do agree Sydney stars sounds like a basketball or netball team. This is Rugby and teams should sound like rugby teams. I think 1 of the things that pulls country towns back Australia wide is the general lack of professional sporting matches [i.e. all trial matches should be played out of the big cities no matter what sport you are interested in] Regionally based people deserve to be able to see professional sport in their home town just as much as anyone else, along with the lack of connectivity to other places i.e. it takes so long to get from A to B on what I generally call pretty good roads. The towns that are being used for NSW country home games have been identified as Evocities to get people out of the Sydney, Melbourne, Brisbane big and congested cities and into cities that are crying out for jobs and development. However the whole scheme doesn't seem to be having much of an effect. The towns that have been identified for NSW country home games- are also the largest country towns going in NSW. I look forward to the start of the competition- I wish I had followed the comp in 2007
Rugby fan
Guest
Hi Brett I live in one of the colleges at UNE [Uni of New England] in Armidale and spoke to the head of Sport UNE tonight at our club rugby training - he said that they turned down the offer of a game at Armidale, because a lot of the comp is on while our 3rd trimester is on and so no or very few students will be in/ around Armidale while the comp is on. Our head of sport UNE also said they want to attract around 3 000 to NSW country home games- make of that what you will - we will know more when the season gets going, its great to have goals, but I am not sure that large country towns have enough sports fans for that - wait and see I guess. The field I would expect them to use here in Armidale, while its a great pitch with modern change rooms, bar and food facilities, after match function room and a hill on both sides of the grandstand and a hill on the other side of the field, electronic score board and high outside fence, plenty of parking - its yet to get lights to cover the field, depending on spectator numbers a 2nd exit / entrance may also be helpful. Minus 3 or 4 games including finals each year we don't have the crowds to warrant certain things - we only got an electronic score board and high outside fence a few years ago when UNE was sponsoring Parramatta Eels [the NRL team]- so they bought the Eels and New Castle Nights up for a trial match before the NRL season started. Having said all that - I can't wait for the season to get going [munching at the bit like a horse] and hopefully it will encourage Large country towns all over to get decent large sports stadiums- Tamworth is a prime example. The ground NSW country would use there is rarely used in my opinion, probs pretty old and run down, would battle to expand it from what I can see on google maps, yet some people are complaining about it being converted into a hotel. I would love to see a place like Tamworth get not only some NSW country games with 3 000 + supporters but also a trail match in the NRL, a country vs city NRL game [better than it being played at the same 2 or 3 places each year] along with any big time soccer matches they could pick up, with 2 local Rugby union teams in the city- if finals are on or a big crowd is expected, yet no professional teams would like the stadium- then I would fully support moving the game to the professional stadium.
Bakkies
Guest
Charcoal. The ARU want sides that can manage their finances that's why there was an expression of interest process. I don't know how many times this has to be repeated.
Bakkies
Guest
That's their problem. The ARU didn't exclude them. Clubs like Souths in Brisbane weren't ignored just did the sensible thing and admit that they couldn't afford it. Stuff Randwick and Easts. By the way McKenzie is a Victorian and Harlequins was his club there.
Kashmir Pete
Roar Guru
Anyone at the "golden oldies" game at North Sydney Oval during the British Lions tour can attest to how good a home it is for rugby - place was chockers. Rays should play a game there - additional catchment for fans who might then cross the Spit for other games.
Charcoal
Guest
I hope the NRC succeeds, but there is no denying that its implementation has been poorly handled by the ARU.
Working Class Rugger
Guest
Squirrel/Magic Sponge, You're a joke mate. Deluded and just plain wrong at every turn. You make out there's more than a handful of Rugby schools in tbe area. They are not being neglected. Hell, a mber of them have better resources at their disposal then many Shute Shield clubs. This comp is alive. It's happening. Get over it. If you cannot see its necessity then your not a real rugby fan.
OZ Rugby Fan
Guest
I was looking to go to a few Rays matches til I saw Brookvale oval. No way will I set foot in that place! Painful to get to aswell. While it's just as far away for me North Sydney oval would have been perfect and is fantastic to watch Rugby with so much history. It's a great looking oval with good transport links to everywhere and great surrounding restaurants and pubs. Such a shame it's not being used. Maybe I am biased but tge Rays already have a real Northern Beaches feel about them, think I may pass on this.
Dru
Guest
Oval isn't ideal, but surely North Sydney would be top three for NRC grounds (after Ballyhoo and Leichardt).
Mike
Guest
Well done that man. As a completely irrelevant aside, the missus and I took part in Gay Gordons in the open air Ceilidh in Edinburgh on Hogmanay. There, it's not an "old time" dance - mostly a great crowd of young 'uns in their 20s and 30s stepping the reels with great vigour in the cold.
Johnno
Guest
What about Armidale, and Bowral 2 proud NSW country areas.
Squirrel
Guest
The comp is dead
Squirrel
Guest
Rand wick and easts are a quarter of Sydney comp. that provide Cheika link and Eddie jones and this section is to be excluded you have to be cracking jokes. Plus all the rugby schools in the area that are neglected . This is a huge failure
Simon Bedard
Roar Pro
Yeah I saw Andrew Fagan's response and was really impressed with the speed with which he came back. But it was great to see you continue on with it. Cheers
Brett McKay
Expert
I spoke to one as I mentioned, Eddard, but he didn't want to be named (and I'd not heard of him, but I don't live in Sydney) and said none of them are really doing it for themselves or for the profile or the glory. Just rugby people, who were asked if they'd like to be involved and they simply said 'yes'... Nothing further about the Qld teams. I don't know whether that's deliberate, or if they're going to let them grow organically, or what. I like it actually. I like the preference for location names...
In Brief
Guest
I disagree with that - can't think of anywhere I'd prefer to watch a game of rugby at than North Sydney Oval. Best spot would be standing adjacent to the goalposts about 2 metres from the action.
Eddard
Roar Guru
Brett, just wondering if you can give some more information about the 5 or 6 private Rams investors? Any particular reason why they have remained anonymous to this point? Are they big name businesspeople? Seems strange Eastwood would pull out due to financial reasons when there are all these private investors putting money in. Also, I should have asked this on part 1, but do you know if the two QLD teams are going to adopt nicknames or will they stay simply 'Brisbane City' and 'Queensland Country' ?
Brett McKay
Expert
Cheers Bernie, and I did see yours last week - I had already started speaking to clubs when your came out, and you might remember me commenting about this series being into the works. I also alerted Andrew Fagan to your piece, which resulted in his really good post. Ultimately, we all know more about the NRC, and that's the most important thing....
Stin
Guest
Geez you'd think I'd have read that somewhere - all I read is rugby articles. Thanks BMK